Tag: Criminal Defense

Criminal Defense, Legal Blog, Recent News

Oscar Pistorius Not Guilty of Premeditated Murder

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Oscar Pistorius, the “Blade Runner,” was found Not Guilty of premeditated murder this morning in a South African court by Judge Thokozile Masipa after a 6-month trial. Masipa found that the State did not prove the elements of premeditated murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and that Pistorius did not have the intent to kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

-The state clearly has not proved beyond (3)

Pistorius has been a fixture in the news after he was charged with one count of murder and three firearms charges stemming from the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. Both prosecutors and the defense agreed that Pistorius had killed Steencamp by shooting into a closed bathroom door. However, the defense argued that the killing was not intentional murder because Pistorius did not know Steenkamp was in the bathroom; he believed he was shooting an intruder.

Although the Judge has ruled that Pistorius cannot be found guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius is not completely out of dodge yet. He still faces additional chages and could be sent to prison for up to 15 years if the Judge convicts him of culpable homicide or negligent killing. The Judge is scheduled to reconvene the judgement phase of the trial on Friday to address the other charges. If Pistorius is convicted of any other crime, there will also be a sentencing phase in the future.

Casey Reiter is an associate attorney at Stuart R. Manoff & Associates, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, practicing in the areas of Criminal Defense and Marital Law.

Burglary, Criminal Defense, Legal Blog, Recent News

Florida Burglary Unoccupied Dwelling

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A Florida man made news today after the Sarasota County Sheriff’s office posted of a picture of the man sleeping on a bed in the home he was allegedly attempting to burglarize in Nokomis, Florida. The man was reportedly found with a bag of jewelry on the bed next to him. The would-be burglar is facing charges of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling.

Although the Sheriff’s Office (and people around the country at this point) are having a good laugh at the “burglar’s” expense, burglary is a serious crime in the State of Florida that is heavily prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office. Burglary of an unoccupied dwelling is a Second Degree Felony in the State of Florida, punishable by up to 15 years in Florida State Prison and a $10,000.00 fine.

Anyone who is arrested for Burglary of an Unoccupied Dwelling in Florida should speak with a Florida criminal defense attorney to discuss their options and determine the best defensive strategy – regardless of the circumstances of the arrest.

 

Casey Reiter is an associate attorney at Stuart R. Manoff & Associates, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, practicing in the areas of Criminal Defense and Marital Law.

Criminal Defense, Drug Charge, Legal Blog, Legislative Update, License Suspension

Legislative Update – License Suspension reduced for Drug Charges in Florida

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As of July 1, 2014, Florida Statute 322.055 has been revised to reduce the period of driver license suspension from two (2) years to one (1) year in drug cases.

Before the statute change, Florida law required driver’s licenses to be suspended for two years for a drug conviction, including possession, sale, trafficking of a controlled substance. Many people did not realize that pleading guilty to a cocaine charge, for example, would not only cause a third degree felony conviction, but also a two year license suspension. Now, anyone convicted of drug charges is to have their license revoked for 1 year (or, if necessary, until the person is evaluated and completes a drug treatment and rehabilitation program). However, the court also has discretion to court to determine whether the defendant may apply for a restricted license (a license that is valid for business or employment purposes only). Further, after 6 months of the license being suspended, the driver may petition the DMV for restoration of the driving privilege on a restricted or unrestricted basis.

 

Casey Reiter is an associate attorney at Stuart R. Manoff & Associates, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, practicing in the areas of Criminal Defense and Marital Law.

Appeal, Breathalyzer, Criminal Defense, DUI, Legal Blog, License Suspension

DUI Permanent License Revocation

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A Broward DUI case (Calabrese v. State) was published this week wherein a permanent license revocation was affirmed by the Broward Circuit Court.

In the case, the defendant was arrested for DUI after she drove through an area that had been roped off by police for an unrelated criminal investigation. The defendant declined to perform field sobriety exercises, but agreed to submit to a breath test and blew a .089. The defendant was found guilty by a jury at trial. The court found that this was the defendant’s third DUI within 10 years. As a result, she was ultimately sentenced to 364 days in Broward County Jail, which was to be lowered to 180 days upon completion of the SAP program (the Substance Abuse and Life Skills Program which provides treatment services to inmates in Broward County’s Jail), along with other standard DUI penalties (such as community service, fines, etc.) and a lifetime driver’s license revocation. 

The defendant appealed the lifetime driver’s license revocation, arguing that it was improper for the court to order because Florida Statute 322.28(2)(a) only requires a 10 year minimum license suspension for a third DUI conviction within 10 years. However, the circuit court disagreed and found that because there was no maximum sentence limit within the statute, the trial judge was within his discretion to issue a lifetime driver’s license revocation.

DUIs in Florida have serious consequences, as seen in this case. Anyone who is facing DUI charges in Florida should contact a criminal defense lawyer to discuss the possible penalties of a DUI conviction and determine the best defense route to attempt to mitigate those penalties. 

 

Casey Reiter is an associate attorney at Stuart R. Manoff & Associates, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, practicing in the areas of Criminal Defense and Marital Law.

Criminal Defense, DUI, Formal Review Hearing, Legal Blog

Florida DUI – Formal Review Hearings

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When a person is arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Florida, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles automatically and immediately suspends that person’s driver’s license. The officer will issue the driver a Temporary Driving Permit, which is only valid for 10 days from the date of the arrest. Thereafter, the person’s license will be suspended, unless granted an extension on the temporary permit for the purposes of attending a Formal Review Hearing or unless the suspension is overturned during a Formal Review Hearing (which is discussed more in depth below.) This “DMV License Suspension” is a civil suspension and is separate from a criminal charge, which may also include its own suspension.

For a first DUI, the DMV license suspension will be 6 months. For a second or subsequent DUI, the DMV suspension will be 1 year. Additionally, a first refusal to submit to a Breath Test (see Breathalyzers) will lead to a 1 year DMV issued license suspension, and a second or subsequent refusal will lead to an 18 month DMV issued license suspension.

Florida Statutes 322.2615 and 322.64 provide the opportunity for a person to challenge a DMV’s license suspension by way of a “formal review hearing” (FRH). The purpose of a Formal Review Hearing is for a hearing officer, who works for the DMV, to make a determination as to whether the person’s civil license suspension should be sustained, amended or invalidated based upon the evidence presented. A person must request a FRH within 10 days of being arrested, or lose the opportunity for the hearing. If a review hearing is requested, the DMV must schedule the hearing within 30 days of the request. 

Interestingly, the decisions made during the Formal Review Hearing are not admissible as evidence in court on the criminal DUI action. And, the outcome of the Formal Review Hearing has no bearing on the outcome of the criminal suspension. In other words, a hearing officer during a Formal Review Hearing could invalidate a license suspension and a person could have a valid license while fighting his or her DUI charge in criminal court. If at the end of the criminal case, the judge or jury find the defendant guilty, or if the defendant pleads guilty, the defendant’s driver’s license will be suspended in the criminal case. For a description of the criminal penalties associated with DUI on a first arrest, see DUI Penalties.

During the Formal Review Hearing, the hearing officer will determine 1) Whether the police officer had probable cause to believe that the driver was driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle in this state while under the influence of alcoholic beverages or chemical or controlled substances and 2) Whether the driver had an unlawful blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level of .08 or higher. The hearing officer will determine this by a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning that if the hearing officer finds it is more likely than not that the driver was under the influence or had a BAC of .08 or higher, the driver’s license suspension will stay in effect.

The police officer will typically testify during the hearing, and the police report will usually be introduced into evidence. All of which the driver is entitled to see. Formal Review Hearings give the driver an opportunity to not only fight the civil license suspension, but also to obtain testimony from the police officers involved in the arrest.

Many times Formal Review Hearings result in the license suspension being sustained. Even in those cases, people often find that they learned valuable information from the police officer’s testimony that they may not have been able to obtain during the criminal case (until the day of trial). That is especially true in Palm Beach County, where depositions of police officers in misdemeanor cases (which DUIs typically are charged as) are not usually permitted. 

Anyone who has been arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Palm Beach County should contact a Palm Beach Criminal Defense Lawyer to discuss their options and decide if a formal review hearing should be requested, as time is of the essence. 

 

Casey Reiter is an associate attorney at Stuart R. Manoff & Associates, P.A. in West Palm Beach, Florida, practicing in the areas of Criminal Defense and Marital Law.